My comment was not ment to be disparaging to the ATCer. Evertime I fly across the Irish Sea, I hope that if something goes wrong and my Mayday isn't heard, that some controller take overdue action.
I was genuinely wondering what I have missed.
I hadn't realised that booking out was a legal requirement in the UK. It's certainly not particularly common in Ireland, and I don't remember being asked to give details of my destination to the airport of departure, while in France either.
Given how often people disappear off an FIS frequency (especially if the FIS is being provided by an airfield rather than London Info) I would bet there is more to this story than meets the eye.
I can't help but agree with IO540 on this one. That is why I asked the question. It would seem to me that there is something more to this story, something that I am missing.
If the pilot was in receipt of a FIS, would they not have passed details of where their destination was, when agreeing the service?
dp